While Strolling through the 'Hood One Day

My normal lunch-time routine during the work-week includes a half-hour walk through the neighborhood next to campus, Greensboro's College Hill, so named because it's sandwiched between Greensboro College and UNC Greensboro. On one such walk recently, I noticed a few things that stood out to me for one reason or another.

First, I saw a big, white van parked in front of one of the grander houses in the neighborhood. The van bore the name and phone number of a local paint company and there several guys in white jump-suits perched on ladders all around the house, all dilligently stroking their paint-brushes left and right over the clapboard siding. Affixed non-chalantly to the rear bumper of the van was a permanent handicapped license plate! WTF?

Second, I was walking down the main thoroughfare through campus, on which the City has just installed a new bicycle lane. A campus bicycle cop was pedalling along in the freshly-painted lane and it occurred to me how pleased I was that the City and the University had worked together to take steps to encourage people travel to campus via means other than their cars. (The several colleges and universities in town cooperated with the Greensboro Transit Authority and just initiated HEAT, a new bus service that connects all of the campuses in town.) So, the bicycle cop was pedalling along and approaching a traffic light that had turned red. And he kept going! Hello, copper!? Do I need to remind you that bicycles have to obey traffic laws, too? I chose not to do so in that case.

Finally, I saw a cool W oval. You know those annoying W '04 ovals that Bushie boosters stick on their autos (quite often, gas-guzzling, Osama-orgasming SUVs) to let the rest of us know that they stand with George Jr. Well, this was the parody sort of W sticker. Quite clever some of them are! The one that I saw on this day read "Woe", but I've also seen "WTF?" and, of course, the classic "Wrong!"

So, my lunch-time walk provides me with fresh air, exercise, and fodder for thought! Go walkabout sometime, yourself! :J